Shriners Hospital plans a reunion

April 11, 2004

CHICAGO — In 1953, Sandi Shook Graham and Carol Vesperman Truncale were best friends during six-month-long stays at Chicago Shriners Hospital for Children, where both were treated for curvature of the spine.

"That was just like home, and they were like family," said Graham, who was 11 at the time. "It was a wonderful place."

Graham and Truncale, who in recent years renewed their friendship, plan to attend a June 13 rededication of the hospital, which treats orthopedic, craniofacial and spinal conditions.

Hospital staff members, who have found more than 100 former patients, want more to join them. A $32.4 million renovation and expansion is nearly complete.